Army Staff Sgt. Christopher T. Stout

Remember Our Heroes

Army Staff Sgt. Christopher T. Stout, 34, of Worthville, Ky.

SSgt. Stout was assigned to 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died July 13, 2010 in Kandahar City, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. Also killed were 1st Lt. Christopher S. Goeke and Staff Sgt. Sheldon L. Tate.

Staff Sgt. Chris Stout grew up in Worthville and when he turned 18 he enlisted in the army which landed him in the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Braggs North Carolina and eventually deployed to Afghanistan.

“When we got the message I was basically praying that it wasn’t true,” Billy Neuner, Stout’s father, said. It's a call no parent can prepare for Stout's father says he was blind-sided when he heard the words that his son had been killed while deployed in Afghanistan. “Something about a missile had entered where they were out and blew them up,” Neuner said.

Up until the time Stout had enlisted, at age 18, he had spent his life growing up in Worthville. He attended the local church where he sang and made a point to come back even after joining the military.

Family members hoped that Staff Sgt. Christopher T. Stout would pursue singing after high school. Instead, the Worthville, Ky., native joined the Army. He had a beautiful voice and would sing in church choirs and karaoke, but he felt it was his duty to serve his country, said his uncle, James Stout.

"I believe he could have made it professionally," James Stout said. "But he thought of others rather than thinking of himself." His nephew was raised in the Pentecostal church and had hopes of being a minister, James Stout said.

Stout’s family says, he made it known every day the love he had for his wife and three daughters. He even recorded a holiday greeting for them while in Afghanistan.

Stout's family says he took pride in being a soldier and although he missed his family while he was away it was a job he'd always wanted. “Chris was our everything...he died for America I think everybody ought to be proud of him,” Jeanie Rider, Stout’s aunt, said.

For this family it’s something they never thought they would have to face and say the reality of Stout being gone still hasn't set in. “I’d give anything for him to make a phone call or walk up here and say dad it wasn't me but I know that isn't so,” Neuner said.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Stout, and 1st Lt. Christopher Goeke of 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team and Staff Sgt. Sheldon Tate of 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th BCT were killed repelling insurgents during a complex attack on the Afghan National Civil Order Police Headquarters in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Stout, a chaplain’s assistant from Worthville, Kentucky, joined the Army Dec. 7, 1997, and attended basic training and Airborne School at Fort Benning, Ga. before going on to Advanced Individual Training at Fort Lee, Va., where he was trained as a parachute rigger. After completing training, Stout was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and arrived at Fort Bragg N.C. Aug. 14, 1998. He served much of his career as a rigger with the 782nd Main Support Battalion and other quartermaster units on Fort Bragg. Stout reclassed to become a chaplain’s assistant in September 2006. He deployed with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 82nd Airborne Division from Sept. 9, 2007, until March 7, 2008. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment Feb. 25, 2009, and deployed with the unit in August 2009.

“Staff Sgt. Christopher Stout was not just a Chaplain Assistant, he was my friend, brother, and Shield of Armor,” said Chaplain (Capt.) Ludovic O. Foyou, chaplain for 1-508 PIR. “His immensely pure love for his fellow Paratroopers epitomizes the Spirit of the Army Chaplain Corps. His love for his wife Misty and three princesses: Jacqueline, Audreanna, and Kristen always kept a radiant smile on his face.”

Stout’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal with two Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Achievement Medal, three Army Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, The NATO Medal, the Combat Action Badge, and the Parachute Rigger Badge.

Stout is survived by his wife Misty, their three daughters Jacqueline, Audreanna and Kristin, and his parents Billy and Sharon Neuner.

Army Staff Sgt. Christopher T. Stout was killed in action on 7/13/10.